Hazardous chemicals can pose a significant risk to health and safety if not managed correctly. Municipal and industrial plant managers have specific duties under increasingly stringent health and safety regulations to manage risks associated with using, handling, and storing hazardous chemicals.
Being a plant manager at a wastewater treatment plant is an enormous responsibility as you answer to many high authorities such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) in the US, and WorkSafe in Australia.
In this article, we’ve compared three common alkalis for wastewater treatment, and explained why magnesium hydroxide products are the safest and most cost-effective options.
- Ca(OH)2 -> Calcium Hydroxide, lime slurry, hydrated lime
- NaOH -> Sodium Hydroxide, caustic soda
- Mg(OH)2 -> Magnesium Hydroxide, milk of magnesia
There are laws in each state or territory that set out the requirements for handling and transporting dangerous goods. Switching to safer chemical products mean you are not only protecting the health and safety of your people, but you are making cost savings for years to come.
Lime slurry – Ca(OH)2
Lime Slurry is an odourless, low viscosity suspension of calcium hydroxide in water. It is commonly used for municipal water treatment, pH adjustment, metals precipitation and odour control.
Lime slurry is not combustible or flammable but it can react violently with acids, and combustible materials. Prolonged and repeated skin contact with Lime Slurry can cause irritant dermatitis or alkaline burns.
If a large volume of lime dust (or slurry) is splashed into the eye alkaline burns can cause permanent damage.
HAZARD(S) IDENTIFICATION
Classification of the substance or mixture:
Irritant
• Skin irritation, category 2
• Specific target organ toxicity following single exposure, category 3
Corrosive
• Serious eye damage, category 1
Signal word: Danger
